June 14, 2004 12:01 AM

Travelling down from Manchester UK to London on the new Virgin trains, I saw this strange sight: a refreshments bag being used to hold together the two doors of the cooler compartments.

These fast Pendelino trains are designed to tilt as they take curves to allow increases in speed unachievable by straight upright trains. But when they tilt, the cooler doors spring open, banging into unsuspecting travellers waiting in line for their chocolate chip cookies.